


You've Got My Heart

by lululawrence



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, American Harry, American Louis, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, Frame Narrative, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Snowmen, anyway, how is that not an actual tag, that's literally it - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 01:19:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13136139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lululawrence/pseuds/lululawrence
Summary: Harry and Louis are celebrating being together for fifty years, but they can't seem to agree about who initiated the first step of the journey.





	You've Got My Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Once upon a time, there was a girl named [Mel](http://2tiedships2.tumblr.com). Mel wanted a fic to go with her moodboard for a Secret Santa exchange, and because I apparently cannot say no to Mel, I agreed. So, dearest [sleigharry](http://sleigharry.tumblr.com), I hope you enjoy this! I tried to go with your likes as best I could as well as the gorgeous moodboard prompt linked at the end of the fic.
> 
> Biggest thanks as well to the amazing [Molly](http://becomeawendybird.tumblr.com) for the last minute beta! You're a peach.
> 
> The title comes from Don't Be A Fool by Shawn Mendes cause his album was the break I needed from Christmas music yesterday so why not. This is a work of fiction, please don't send it to the boys or anyone affiliated with them, blah blah blah. Thanks for reading!

Louis eases himself down onto the loveseat beside Harry and immediately takes his hand in his. They are old and wrinkled, not nearly as smooth and unmarked as they were when they first met all those years ago, but Louis doesn’t mind. To Louis, those wrinkles are just signs of the time they’ve been able to spend together, and that means years of blessings.

“Can you believe it’s been fifty years?” Harry asks, eyes bright. Louis squeezes Harry’s hand and smiles widely. 

“Of course I can. Look at us, hardly able to move anymore.”

Harry swats at Louis’ shoulder, but it’s true. They still move quite well for people well into their seventies now, but they definitely have limitations they didn’t used to in their younger years.

“I might not be as smooth as I was when we became friends playing flag football in the park, but I can still move, Lou.”

Louis hums and leans into his husband’s side. Forty-five years of marriage and fifty years exactly since they got together and now they were lucky enough to be surrounded by their family to celebrate that important marker as well as Christmas.

“I’m so glad I finally got my head out of my ass and asked you out as a birthday gift to myself,” Louis says with a chuckle.

“How very dare you,” Harry says with a faux gasp. “Everyone is going to think I was just waiting for you to ask, and I wasn’t! I was going to ask you out that same day!”

Louis turns to Harry with a look of confusion. “You were not! It was only because I finally kissed you that anything actually happened!”

“That is not how I remember it at all.” 

 

*~~***~~*

 

Harry shivered as he walked out of the metro stop and back into the freezing air. There wasn’t any snow in the forecast, but the air had a definite nip to it and there had been enough snow earlier that the kids had enjoyed making what creatures and snow angels they could. He pulled his coat tighter around him and began to make his way to his apartment, knowing Louis was there waiting for him.

Louis was one of the first people Harry ever met when he moved to the city and three years later they were basically inseparable. Harry had moved to Alexandria with a job offer that ended up falling through, but he couldn’t afford to break his rent and he fell in love with the area and history fast enough that he did what he could by working at various coffee shops and as a substitute teacher to make ends meet. He still wouldn’t have been able to if it wasn’t for his roommate, Logan.

Logan was one of those guys that life blessed, and richly. His family had a great wealth of both money and connections and thanks to that, Logan had one of the nicest apartments Harry had seen in the city. Harry knew he was more than lucky to be able to live there, especially considering Logan only accepted a pittance in exchange. Anyone else and Harry would have had to go back to living with his parents in the midwest until some other job opportunity arose, but as it was he had Logan and shortly thereafter he also had Louis, and now there was no way Harry would ever be able to be convinced to leave. Not without Louis by his side, anyway.

Louis worked for one of the five million companies that contracted with the government, and it paid him well. He got to do something he enjoyed and reap the benefits, and Harry wasn’t jealous. Not really. It wasn’t really possible to be when Louis lavished Harry with those benefits as often as he took advantage of them himself.

Louis was like that. He was incredibly generous with everything he had, but because of that it meant that he hadn’t saved enough to get himself home for the holidays, so now both he and Harry were essentially spending the holidays together and alone while the rest of their friend group traveled away from the city to spend time with their families.

Harry had been trying to build the courage to ask Louis out for months now. He was one of those people that was the personification of everything good and pure in this world and Harry didn’t ever want to lose that, but when Louis was already Harry’s best friend and they had such a good balance with that, it did scare Harry to take that step. 

Harry was determined, though. Clare and Sarah had teamed up as they were closing the cafe earlier and cornered Harry, getting him to promise them he wouldn’t let another opportunity slip by. He would make the chance, if one didn’t present itself, and tell Louis how he felt. Their pep talk had done more than enough to get him feeling like this really was the right time to bring it up, and he was going to do it before the end of the weekend.

Harry got to his apartment building and saw a snowman had been built. It wasn’t just any snowman, though. This one was upside down, and looked perfectly happy to be so. 

Louis had obviously participated with the kids from Harry’s building in creating this work of art, and it made Harry’s chest warm despite the fact the air was so cold, it was hard to breathe. Only Louis would see kids building a snowman out front and on his twenty-seventh birthday decide that’s how he wanted to spend the day.

Harry pulled his phone out of his coat pocket and took a quick photo. He’d have to send it to Louis’ sisters. They’d love it.

Harry climbed the stairs to the second floor and tried the door without unlocking it and, as usual, Louis hadn’t bothered locking it. Harry kept trying to tell him he should, even when he was home, but Louis never listened. Harry was glad for it today, though.

When Harry walked in, Louis was still unaware Harry had returned and therefore hadn’t put up the front he always displayed when Harry was around. It was the only one he bothered with for Harry, and it was all because of Harry’s cat, Queenie.

Queenie was a fluffy, gray cat that loved being doted on...until she didn’t. She wanted to be loved, but only on her own terms and timeline and Louis had a hard time with that. Harry knew that over the years they had become fond of each other, but Louis insisted it wasn’t true. 

Today was proof of what Harry had been saying all along. Louis was sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace, the TV hanging above playing reruns of  _ Mad About You,  _ as Queenie lay purring in Louis’ lap. Louis was petting her and cooing all kinds of sweet things to her, and Harry was not going to let him forget this. 

Phone back in hand, Harry pulled up video and began to record as he quietly walked towards the adorable and soft pair. Louis finally noticed Harry moving towards them a few seconds later and jumped in surprise, causing Queenie to move to the floor in distaste.

“Harry! Are you a fucking ninja?” Louis asked, his hand on his chest. “Oh my God, you scared Queenie so bad she scared me!”

Harry was cackling, but the camera was still recording, so he did his best to keep it focused on Louis. It was only then Louis realized he’d been caught in more ways than one.

“You did not record that,” Louis said, pointing his finger at Harry. “That didn’t actually happen, so of course you didn’t. See, you’re going to try to watch it back and it will just be a blank white screen, some sort of anomaly because you imagined us actually getting along.”

Harry ended the recording and placed his phone in his jeans pockets before walking back to the door to remove his multiple layers. 

“You can say whatever you want to, Louis. I know the truth.”

Louis was moving around the kitchen making some noise, so Harry headed to that room once everything was hung where it should be. When he turned the corner, he was surprised to find Louis picking up two mugs, perfectly created with whipped cream toppings and sprinkled with candy bits.

“You...did you make us fancy hot chocolate?” Harry asked even as he reached for one. He wanted it. No, he  _ needed _ the warm beverage, whatever it was. His first sip told him it was the peppermint hot chocolate Harry had been raving about the day before. “Lou, you went out on Christmas Eve and your birthday to buy hot chocolate mix? You should have told me you wanted some and I would have gotten it!”

Louis shrugged. “I was thinking about it and thought it would be a nice surprise for you when you got back. It should be the perfect temperature to drink now, if I timed it right.”

“It is, thank you.” 

Louis nodded towards the couch and they headed back to the little nest Louis had created. They settled down, right in each other’s space like they always did, and covered their legs with a blanket while their stockinged feet were warmed by the fire.

“This is basically my perfect day, right here,” Harry said as he turned to Louis. His heart was starting to beat out of his chest, because while he wasn’t planning on doing this on Louis’ birthday, at this point he felt like he might as well. 

“I think this is my perfect birthday, actually,” Louis said, and Harry’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Don’t you usually spend your birthday with your family? I thought they made a big deal of it since your friends could never come over.”

Louis nodded slowly, and eyed his hot chocolate. “Yeah, we do, but I think in some ways I’d rather spend a quiet day with you, cuddled up on the couch.”

Harry’s breathing was starting to pick up and his heart was about to rabbit out of his chest. The time was definitely now, and if Harry wasn’t misreading the signals, then Louis definitely felt the same way and Harry was about to cry in excitement and fear of what that meant.

Harry let his eyes drift down to Louis’ lips and study them for a bit before he lifted his gaze back to Louis’ beautiful blue eyes and asked, “Lou? Can I kiss you?”

Louis seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as he said, “Please,” while leaning forward.

Harry was careful with his mug while he closed the distance between them and allowed himself to finally,  _ finally,  _ feel Louis’ lips on his. It was just as amazing as he knew it would be. The kiss was tentative, but the simplicity of it was still better than longer, deeper kisses Harry had experienced simply because of who it was with.

Before too long, Harry pulled back and opened his eyes, finding Louis blushing as much as Harry felt like he was, but there was a smile on his face and hopefully that was a good sign.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for ages,” Harry admitted as he leaned forward to put both of their hot chocolates down on the side table. He wanted to be able to focus on Louis without fear of ruining Logan’s couch.

“Why didn’t you do it earlier?” Louis asked with a laugh. “I’ve practically been throwing myself at you ever since we met.”

Harry’s jaw dropped and he pushed at Louis’ shoulder. “You have not!”

Louis rolled his eyes. “Of course I have. Just been waiting for you to catch up and figure it out.”

Harry narrowed his eyes. “And here I was hoping to ask you to be my boyfriend, but maybe I’ll save that for another day. Your birthday and Christmas has obviously gone to your head.”

Louis’ smirk softened into a smile as Louis turned a little bashful. He looked down at where their hands were resting on top of the blanket before linking his hand in Harry’s. 

“You wanna be boyfriends?” Louis asked quietly.

Harry lifted their hands and kissed the back of Louis’ until Louis locked eyes with him again. “Of course I do. If you’ll have me.”

Louis let out a content sigh and snuggled into Harry’s side. “Oh, I guess so. Should probably tell my mom to cancel her order of ‘Best Friends Forever’ memorabilia she placed for us, though. It needs to be upgraded now.”

Harry laughed into Louis’ hair and gave it a soft kiss. “Shut up and watch the show. This is one of my favorite episodes.”

“Fine, but only because you’re my boyfriend. You’re going to have to talk to me nicely now that we’re dating.”

“Sure thing, Lou.”

 

*~~***~~*

 

“I don’t see how this proves anything,” Louis complains. Harry’s long winded story of how they got together all those years ago did nothing except support what Louis has been saying. “That right there shows that I was obviously the one who made the first move.”

Harry grunts in frustration and pulls away from Louis’ side a little to look at him over his bifocals. “You need to work on your comprehension skills, because the story I just told, which is an accurate retelling of true events, clearly shows that I was the one who made the first move. Isn’t that right, Janie?”

Their oldest daughter raises her hands and stands up from her chair to leave the room. “There is no way you two are pulling me into this.”

Louis eyes their children and grandchildren that are scattered throughout the room individually, but no one steps up to say more than, “You two need to give up on this already, it’s been fifty years.”

Louis turns to Harry, who eyes him warily in return. 

“Well,” Louis concedes. “I suppose it doesn’t really matter as long as it means we’re still here right now with the most important people in the world surrounding us.”

Harry shakes his head, but accepts Louis’ hand in peace offering. “No. Not giving up that easily. But I am glad we’re here now.”

Louis watches as their family begins to talk amongst themselves again now that their story is over. 

“I’m so happy, H,” Louis says as quietly as he can while knowing Harry can still hear him. “I’m so glad I’ve been able to fight with you through the last fifty years.”

Harry leaned over and gently kissed Louis’ cheek. “Now that I can agree with.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you again for reading and Merry Christmas! If you enjoyed it, please be generous with kudos and kind comments. Mel and I would also both appreciate it if you reblogged the moodboard fic post [here](http://lululawrence.tumblr.com/post/168926892198/2tiedships2-happy-holidays-sleigharry-it).
> 
> Interested in helping support charities with fanfic? If you are, I could write a fic for you! Check out the info [here on Tumblr](https://1dfanworksforcharity.tumblr.com/post/174494969280/1d-fanworks-for-charity-auctions-for-lululawrence).


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